D
At the railway stations all across Britain next week, groups of students will gather with their backpacks to wait for the trains that will carry them home for Christmas. This is a large movement of human beings as before, but with more contradictory traffic flows, so that trains filled with the young pass each other travelling in every direction.
At first, I went home every weekend with my washing, but then those visits became less regular. How did I let my parents know I was coming? They had no phone. Perhaps I wrote to them (“Expect me with dirty shirts this Friday afternoon”), but more likely I didn’t let them know, and just turned up or didn’t turn up, not understanding that my parents’ hopes of seeing me were a greater disappointment of my carelessness than a spoiled tea.
And in all this I suspect I was typical (有代表性的), at least of young men. As for our fathers and mothers, none of them talked of “empty-nest syndrome (綜合癥)”, even though its possible effect that the main human duty is to protect and feed the young would have suited their generation better than ours. Then, the feeling of loss went without a name. Today, it’s a condition with remedies, which will make parents feel more enjoyable in their life, The Mayo Clinic, for example, suggests you try to maintain regular contact with your children through “visits, phone calls, emails, texts or video chats”. If you feel unhappy, lean on (depend on … for support) loved ones or your mental health providers. Above all, stay positive: “Thinking about the extra time and energy that you might have to devote to your marriage or personal interests after your last child leaves home, it might help you adapt to this major life change.”
What can’t be denied, however, is that children often leave home. In modern societies, this is what they do. Christmas is the very time they can be depended on to return. For the non-religious, that may be this season’s true comfort and significance.
【小題1】The main reason for the busy traffic across Britain next week is that _______.

A．young students will travel home for Christmas.

B．young people will travel in every direction.

C．it is a large movement of human beings

D．the traffic flows will be more contradictory

【小題2】From the second paragraph we can learn that the writer _______.

A．went home every week to wash dirty clothes

B．understood his parents’ desire of seeing him

C．didn’t understand his parents’ feelings

D．went home to see his parents regularly

【小題3】The underlined word “remedies” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to _______.

A．reasons

B．excuses

C．habits

D．solutions

【小題4】From the last paragraph we know that _______.

A．in modern society, children should leave home

B．Christmas is likely a time for family reunion

C．the significance of Christmas is celebration

D．Christmas is not a comfort for the non-religious

【小題5】From the passage we can infer that by writing the article the writer is to _______.

A．persuade the young to show concern for their parents

B．a(chǎn)sk the young to go home regularly

C．make the young understand their parents’ interest

D．enable the young to be more independent

I credit my typing skill to so many hours of chatting online. Unfortunately, as my typing speed increased on the Internet, all grammatical rules went out of the window. You see instant messages have their own shorthand language and grammar isn’t important, of which even a newbie (新手) is aware. They can leave out articles, subjects (主語), pronouns, etc. They can misspell or “respell” almost any word. They often ask “A/S/L” when they first chat. Abbreviations (縮寫) and capitalizations (大寫) are particularly important. English-speaking instant messengers also refuse to burden themselves with punctuation and capitalization.
After I came back China, I discovered not one but two instant messaging crazes. The first, which brought back memories of my previous addiction to the computer, was QQ. I can see evidence that the Chinese have the same kind of separate instant messaging language, even when they chat in English. My first word in this language, for example, was “ft”. This abbreviation for “faint” is used whenever there is a need to express surprise. I also discovered that Chinese use the same kind of abbreviation for a laugh. And there is an extraordinary number of smileys (表情符) to the “vomit” and “army soldier” smileys. There is even a SARA smiley.
After QQ, there is another, perhaps more widespread messaging trend. You guessed it --- cell phone text messaging. I now understand how useful text messaging is and why it is so common. I admit that I have been guilty of sending text messages while walking outside or sitting on the subway. Who hasn’t ? No matter where I go, I see people on their cell phones, messaging. In fact, it’s rare to see someone actually talking on their phone!
So it looks as if there is no escape from the instant messaging crazes, no matter where in the world I go. And that’s plainly not going to change. In the end, though, I can’t complain: instant messaging is quick, it’s cheap, it’s easy and it’s extremely fun too. And after all, everyone’s doing it.
【小題1】The underlined phrase “went out of the window” in Paragraph 1 probably means        .

A．increased

B．occurred

C．disappeared

D．changed

【小題2】Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．Grammar and correct spelling are very important while chatting online.

B．There are enough smileys and icons to express yourselves while chatting on line.

C．The writer is skilled at typing and once was addicted to online games.

D．It is impolite to leave out some unimportant words or letters while chatting online.

【小題3】The writer believes that instant messaging is          .

A．full of fun but time-consuming

B．widespread but unnecessary

C．quick but difficult to do

D．common, used and cheap

【小題4】Which might be the main idea of the passage?

A．Who can escape QQ and cell phone text messaging?

B．Why is instant messaging so popular?

C．Chatting online is good for your typing skill.

D．Chatting on QQ is natural for people.

It’s not easy growing up. Growing up can be a real “pain” for some of us. Sometimes we feel trapped, sometimes we feel sad, sometimes we are fearful, and sometimes we just don’t understand why we can’t stay young forever. But we should take a look back on all the hardships in life with a positive attitude and learn from them. We must overcome every obstacle one small step at a time. We should realize that all of our growing pains actually turn into growing gains!
Throughout our lives we are going to face many challenges and pains, but we should never let these obstacles keep us from following our dreams. We must overcome every obstacle one small step at a time.
As a young girl, my parents forced me to do so many things that I didn’t like. They made me learn to play the violin and then the piano. At that time I hated music and I also hated them. But looking back now, I am so glad that my parents encouraged me to take music lessons. Music has enriched(豐富) my life in so many ways. I now realize that my parents and teachers wanted me to have a better life than they did themselves.
We are all going to experience growing pains, but they are just part of our life. They might seem so huge at the time, but we must be strong. Think about how we would feel if we had no challenges and lived a life like that. Life would be really boring and meaningless. The future is ours! A little hard work and sweat never hurt anyone! If we realize that these pains are just small bumps(碰撞) on our road to success, we will realize that our growing pains are actually growing gains!
【小題1】 The underlined word “obstacles” (in Paragraph 2) roughly means things that ______.

A．a(chǎn)re related to your studies

B．you easily achieve

C．make you happy

D．make it difficult for you to do something

【小題2】How does the author now feel when remembering what her parents did for her in the past?

A．She is fearful	B．She is grateful
C．She feels trapped	D．She feels hateful

【小題3】We can know from the last paragraph that _____________.

A．life without challenges is dull

B．life needs no pains but sunshine and happiness

C．we should give up faced with challenges as the future is ours

D．we shouldn’t easily pay a little hard work in growing up

【小題4】The purpose of the passage is to tell readers____________.

A．life is full of hardships

B．growing pains can turn into growing gains in a positive way

C．everyone is painful in growing up

D．everyone should do what they don’t like when young

A
“Depend on yourself” is what nature says to every man. Parents can help you. Teachers can help you. But all these only help you to help yourself.
There have been many great men in history. But many of them were very poor in boyhood, and had no uncles, aunts, or friends to help them. Schools were few and low. They could not depend on them for an education. They saw how it was, and set to work with all their strength to know something. They worked their own way up to fame.
One of the most famous teachers in England used to tell his pupils, “I cannot make worthy men of you, but I can help you make men of yourselves.”
Some young men have no ambitions(抱負(fù)) to do anything; and they are to be pitied. They can never succeed unless they see their foolishness, and change their courses. They are nothing now, and will be nothing as long as they live, unless they accept the advice of parents and teachers, and depend upon their own honest and serious efforts.
【小題1】The best title for this passage is ________.

A．Depend on Yourself

B．Don’t Depend on Your Parents

C．Nobody can help you

D．The Good Advice

【小題2】 From the passage we know that many great men in history ________.

A．learned everything themselves in boyhood

B．didn’t receive any education

C．had no relatives or friends

D．depended on themselves to become famous

【小題3】Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Parents can make you succeed.

B．Great men in history were very poor.

C．Teachers would not like to help you to be a man.

D．Only you can make yourself a great man.

【小題4】Why have some young men failed in everything?

A．They have no ambitions.

B．They are to be pitied.

C．They have changed their courses.

D．They have seen their foolishness.

Every year mobile phones develop. Imagining what they will look like and be able to do in 2020 is really a challenge. To help, experts have outlined three major mobile trends that they believe will have become reality by then.
Our phones will be so smart in 10 years’ time that they’ll know everything about our situation and warn us when something needs our attention. This is the top prediction of both Nokia and Google. They predict that our cars and home appliances will be able to communicate with our mobile. For example, fridges will tell your mobile to tell you to pick up milk on the way back from work. While driving, your mobile will suggest that you take a different route because there’s a road accident up ahead.
The second trend is in gesture-based controls. People who know the iPhone’s touch-sensitive screen are already familiar with the technology. It translates hand movements into actions on-screen. But gestural communications will make the phone more convenient to use and may completely replace touchpads. According to industry insiders, the most immediate step forward in gestural technology will be in voice recognition. It’s believed voice recognition technology will speed up communications. It is quicker to speak than type. Eventually, phone screens will disappear.
The third major development will change our understanding of a mobile phone. From a single phone, the mobile will be developed into multi-part devices. It is opposite to the current trend in which mobile phones are combining the functions of cameras, music players and game consoles. The prediction is based on the idea that the world will become more wireless and all these—cameras, music players and game consoles—will be wirelessly connected. Mobile phones won’t need to contain these devices because users will be able to control them wirelessly through their phones.
【小題1】The first paragraph serves as          .

A．a(chǎn) lead-in

B．a(chǎn) conclusion

C．a(chǎn) summary

D．a(chǎn) supporting fact

【小題2】Which of the following is most likely to be the appearance of a mobile phone in 2020? 

【小題3】From the text, we can learn that the future mobile phones will          .

A．drive cars for us

B．be controlled by the users’ voices

C．be controlled by home appliances

D．be very big together with separated multiple parts

【小題4】The text mainly tells us          .

A．three major trends of mobile phones

B．what mobile phones will look like in 2020

C．the future mobile phones are gesture-based

D．some new functions of the present mobile phones